More on the epidemic: US mumps cases top 1,100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of mumps cases has risen to 1,100 in eight Midwestern states and prompted the federal government to distribute vaccines from its stockpile to stop the outbreak's spread, health officials said on Wednesday.

The outbreak is the largest mumps epidemic in the United States in more than 20 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Most are in Iowa, where 815 cases have been recorded, the CDC said.

An additional 350 mumps cases have been reported in Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri and Oklahoma, officials said. Investigators are reviewing possible cases in seven other states that were not named.

Mumps Hits Midwest, More Vaccine Promised

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the worst outbreak in nearly 20 years, mumps cases are spilling out of Iowa, popping up in at least seven other Midwestern states and perhaps seven more — leading to promises of extra vaccine from the U.S. stockpile.

There are no deaths and few hospitalizations being reported from the disease, which health officials say might have been helped by air travel.

But the nation's federal health agency said Wednesday it's the largest outbreak in almost two decades with more than 1,000 cases and it's expected to keep growing.

It's a "cascade of transmission that's going to take a while to curtail and stop," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.